Tour Where Your Tie Dye is Handmade!

October 05, 2021

WELCOME TO THE OASIS OF ONE OF A KIND TIE DYE DESIGN…IRL!

1950 original pink bar top with Nautilus pine wood, rolls of sinew, soda ash shakers and shirts tied in symmetrical patterns to ice dye, with rainbow splatter pattern tie dye tapestries on each wall

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever stumbled upon a small online business and found yourself pondering: “Where exactly are these products made? I wonder what their workspace looks like? In what kind of conditions are their products stored until shipping?” Or maybe even, “Are these claims of being a small, one-person-in-home-operation even true at all?!”

In the area in front of the tie dye bar are 2 large plastic bins with wire closet shelving on top are used as splat racks for tie dyeing. With Teal blue geode pattern tie dye tapestries on each wall.

Whether these sorts of questions are evoked purely by curiosity and fascination, or maybe rather out of an abundance of caution surrounding cleanliness or legitimacy concerns — These sort of things are only natural to question before handing over your hard-earned money to an online shop you’ve never heard of before.

Blank Champion and Adidas clothing in queue to be tied then dyed with rolls of sinew on a desk in the tie dye studio. Two tie dye tapestries, a rainbow geode and a rainbow splatter design, give each wall a pop of color.

With that being said, this new “Tour the Tie Dye Studio” series of blog posts sets out to answer those questions and quench your curiosity, all at once! Whether you come from a place of intrigue or otherwise, I hope you enjoy this behind-the-scenes peek at the IRL side of Paradisiac Dyes!

Looking at the tie dye studio and bar from dead center, to the left are drawers full of blank tops prepped and ready to just tie then dye, with a shelf of shipping boxes below. Behind these shelves is a square table in the corner, to the right of that is a bookshelf holding tie dyeing tools and supplies. On the right side of the frame is the bar area, in front of the bar on the floor are large plastic totes with wire shelving placed on top for tie dyeing.

In the area to the right of the bar is a shelf built-in to the wall, which holds all of my backup doubles of dye colors as well as 5lb fiber reactive dye jars. Below that is another square table used for tying fabric into patterns. On the wall is a rainbow splatter pattern tie dye tapestry.

Welcome to a place I lovingly call: The Dungeon of Design (aka just my basement). This is where all of the tie dye you see here at Paradisiac Psychedelic Handmade Goods is hand-dyed from start to finish! After six years and counting of slowing evolving my ‘lil one-person-operation, I’ve decided it’s time to reveal a peek at where exactly all of the tie dye you see here on the site is hand-dyed!

A LITTLE ABOUT THE PERSON BEHIND IT AL

Bean, one of my two cats, posing for a selfie with me behind the tie dye bar

Tie dye artist, Rhiannon Cloud, in front of a tropical fig tree with wicker baskets, t-shirt mannequins on top that are wearing custom made geode tie dye tank tops. Taking photos of the tanks before shipping to later use on a blog or social media.

But first things first, I suppose now would be a good time to finally ’properly’ introduce myself for once. Hi there, my name is Rhiannon! I’m the one ‘n only person behind everything that is Paradisiac Psychedelic Handmade Goods! And by everything, I mean e v e r y t h i n g — It’s no exaggeration when I say: this is truly as small as small business possibly gets!

A selfie of tie dye artist, Rhiannon Cloud, wearing a geode pattern tie-dyed Adidas pullover hoodie whilst laying against a geode pattern tie dye fitted bed sheet in a similar blue, teal and brown color scheme.

Originally starting out as shop ‘Beach Bum Boutique’ before branching out to two shops: ‘Detroit Tie Dye Co.’ & ‘Hippie Made Hemp Co.’ on Etsy.

A mirror selfie of tie dye artist, Rhiannon Cloud, behind the bar, wearing a pastel geode tie dye tank top with a purse and sunglasses to match.

Then, later migrated to Shopify in late 2017 and shortly thereafter changed names to become the present day Paradisiac Dyes; The Online, One of a Kind Oasis of Tie Dye Design! But that’s enough about that for now, if you care to learn more about me personally, a brand spankin’ new About the Artist page is coming soon!

NOW FINALLY, LETS GET TO THE TOUR!

Another angle of the area in front of the tie dye bar, with a teal and blue geode tie dye tapestry on each wall and rainbow splatter ice dyes in progress on the splat rack bins.

If you were to descend into my basement dungeon, the first thing you’d see is what I very creatively call the…uh…main area. Yep, that’s the best I’ve got.

An up-close shot of the 3-tier shelves, two of which have clear jumbo plastic drawers containing pre-soda ashed blanks that are ready to tie then dye, and a speckled rainbow crinkle tie dyed tapestry on the wall behind. To the right of the shelves is a clothing rack, with a full length mirror behind, with a table next to it.

Here‘s where the majority of tie dyeing happens, amongst all of the varying sizes of plastic storage bins with the wire shelving / cabinet organizer contraptions inside of or on top of them.

Splat rack bins with splatter pattern ice dyes in progress

Up-close shot of psychedelic mindscape designs sitting atop the splat racks after ice dyeing the second side

These bins, which I refer to as splat racks, are where tied & ready-for-dye pieces are placed, then tie (or ice) dyed!

A folding rack holding rainbow spiral tie dye shirts that are awaiting rinsing, washing and drying before being complete and ready to ship out. To the right is a table with blank tees and a tapestry rubber-banded into splatter patterns, in queue to be tie-dyed

A folding drying rack holding recently ice dyed psychedelic mindscape design t-shirts that are awaiting being rinsed out, washed, then dried.

Sometimes if I’m in need of more splat rack space, I’ll whip out a drying rack and stick it right inside of an XL storage tote. This way, I can transfer already dyed pieces here to finish up their 24hr molecular bonding rendezvous before rinsing.

Up-close shot of four purple urkle ice dye splatter t-shirts in progress, with ice cubes and dye powder sprinkled on top.

Then, I have all of my splat rack space freed up to move right on along to the next order without worry of having to wait due to lack of available workspace!

Center-on view of the 3-tier shelving unit with drawers of pre-soda ashed blank clothing on the top two shelves, and extra shipping supplies on the bottom

Another one of many things I’ve implemented over the years, in an attempt to streamline the process of crankin’ out custom commissions, are these half dozen drawers on a 3-tier shelving unit.

The very left side, far wall of the area in front of the tie dye bar. The speckled rainbow crinkle tie dye tapestry on the wall behind the shelving, clothing rack and dyeing bins gives the room a pop of color

These drawers stay stocked full of pre-soda ash’d, ready-to-tie-then-dye items of all sorts: t-shirts, long sleeves, fleece, bedding, bandanas, scarves and more!

A stack of pre-tied, rubber-banded splatter pattern shirts, a stash of tees are always kept tied and ready to dye for custom tie dye requests

The far right wall of the area just to the right of the tie dye bar, with an aqua teal geode design tapestry on the wall and a table in front with piles of pre-tied, ready to dye blank tops and tees. Above the table is a shelf built in to the wall from the 1950's, which stores all of my doubles and 5lb fiber reactive dyes

Taking that idea a step further — across the studio in what I call the, uh…nook area next to the bar…is another drying rack, that holds a regularly refilled queue of pre-tied, ready-for-dye splatters & spirals of all sizes!

The area to the right of the bar, with a bright aqua and teal agate geode pattern tie dye tapestry on the wall, with a built-in wall shelf to the right stocked full of 5lb dye containers and backups. In the corner is a square table for tying shirts. To the left of the table is a photo-op setup of mannequins staggered at different heights on top of wicker baskets, wearing new geode tie dyes, for content batching photography

THE TIE DYE BAR

Standing directly in front of the bar, at the end near the wall looking down it toward the area with the built-in wall cubby. On top of the bar are shirts rubber-banded into symmetrical mindscape designs, being prepared to ice dye ahead of Mindscape Monday

Wait, what was that non-chalant mention of a bar? Damn right I meant literal BAR! Smack dab in the center of the studio is the tie dye bar of my dreams...brought to life! And the best part of all: it’s PINK!

Standing at the end of the tie dye bar, looking toward the studio area just in front of the bar. From here you see a rolling cart with containers of dye, a rainbow tie dye curtain panel hanging in the far left of the frame. Directly ahead are the splat racks, with the shelving, drawers, table and mirror behind it. And of course, a vibrant tie dye tapestry on each wall to give the basement a pop of color

RANDOM FACT: This baby-pink bar-top is a 1950 original, but in damn near like-new condition; thanks to the mountain of clutter and thick layer of dust that inadvertently served to protect and preserve the surface over the course of recent decades (I wish I was kidding). That is, until one late summer night I set out on a mission and pulled a coup d'etat on the clutter…and TA-DA! (see before and after pics below)

A full panoramic view of the tie dye studio and bar. On the far left wall is shelving with drawers full of blank, pre-soda ashed tops and tees that are ready to tie then dye. The main area in front of the bar has jumbo plastic storage totes with wire shelving laid a top for tie dyeing. In the center of the frame is the vintage, 1950 original retro baby pink bar top. To the right of the tie dye bar is another small area with a table and mannequins set up for content batching photography.

An Adidas hoodie awaiting being tied into geodes with sinew is hanging from a hanger on the right side of the frame, looking beyond it to the main area in front of the tie dye bar. There are two large bins with wire racks on top for tie dyeing, with aqua blue geode tie dye tapestries on each wall

I’m still in disbelief and overflowing with gratitude for this opportunity to create the tie dye bar and surrounding studio space of my literal dreams!

Standing behind the tie dye bar, looking down it is the bar top with mindscapes in line to ice dye sitting atop, and to the left is a 1950's mirror with shelves, to the right is a 4-tier plastic shelving unit with shipping supplies and other stationary.

Throughout the last year, I've been putting a ton of time and effort into making the most out of this space I have to work with. The primary goal being to make it as efficient and functional as possible to best optimize my tie dye workflow!

A closer up look at the two large splat racks that reside in front of the tie dye bar. There are rainbow splatters ice dyeing in progress, and a rolling cart with a mini cooler of ice and other supplies on the bottom right side of the frame

Counter top Ice Machine Maker full of ice, sitting on the Bar top of the tie dye bar

So, would it really be a 'real' tie dye bar if it didn’t have an ice machine for ice dyeing anytime at the drop of a dime?!
My handy dandy ice maker resides on top of the bar, next to my beloved Good Molecules mini fridge!

The top shelf in the basement freezer stocked full of pre-made nugget ice, as well as trays of ice kept ready-to-use 24/7 for ice dyeing anytime

Looking down the bar toward the ice maker and mini fridge. In the center of the frame is a splat rack with two made to order shirts actively being ice dyed

Also, in a freezer over in the laundry area, is an entire shelf designated for stashing pre-made ice cubes (pictured above) — In the form of regular trays, plus two mini coolers full of nugget ice from the machine, too!

BEHIND THE BAR

A full view of the tie dye bar. To the left of the frame is a rainbow splatter tie dye grommet curtain panel draped from a rod, just to the right is the bar with a stash of sinew and salt shakers filled with soda ash stored at the edge, blank shirts rubber-banded and ready to ice dye cover the 1950 original pink bar top. In the background is the main area of the tie dye studio which has two vibrant rainbow splatter tie dye tapestries on each wall

Next up, behind the bar is the bulk of my dye collection, stored amongst the seven black, pink and white crates. Also stashed behind the bar are two storage bins with extra empty dye jars, seasonal decorations, photo props and other misc. supplies, as well as extra drying racks not in use.

The wall cubby shelf that holds all extra, backup 5lb, 1lb and 8oz Dharma Trading Co. Fiber Reactive Procion Dye colors

Meanwhile, in the area just to the right of the bar is a built-in wall cubby thing. This awesome, retro built-in shelf is where extra backups of my most-used colors are kept, along with all of my 5lb dyes.

Entire collection of over 100 Dharma Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes in 5lb, 1lb, 8oz and 2oz containers

Sample swatches of new Dharma Trading Co. Fiber Reactive Procion Dye color, Magenta Galactica, surrounded by two jars of powder form dye and pages of other pink dye shade swatches strewn about

If you'd like to see my entire dye collection, complete with true-to-color swatches of over 120 dye shades, discontinued colors and experiments comparing shades, then head over to my brand new page which has all of my fiber reactive dye related content in one place! (It'll be updated to include even more content as it's published, too!)

100% cotton fabric sample squares featuring swatches of over 100 Dharma trading co. Fiber reactive dye colors

LAST STOP: THE LAUNDRY ROOM

Rainbow tie dye shirts in the washing machine as it fills with water

Last but not least is where multiple steps of the tie dyeing process take place: the laundry room!

The first thing you'd see is this 3-tier shelving unit which stores lots of basic essentials and utensils for tie dyeing: bottles, caps, funnels, measuring cups and spoons, urea, soda ash, detergents and beyond!

Pictured above is a little something I've coined:

THE SODA ASH'N STATION!

The soda ash’n station is just a jumbo, rectangular plastic tote which perfectly fits a drying rack, as well as a smaller plastic container (for soaking fabric in sodium carbonate solution), right alongside it.

A close-up shot of a blank white Champion t-shirt being tied into the splatter pattern

First, fabric is pre-washed, soaked in soda ash solution for 1+ hours, then rung out and hung to dampen or dry before being tied into its destined design!

A folding rack of tie dyed Midnight Marbled Rainbow splatter ice dye tees, in the background out of focus are splat racks with more tie dye in progress

Once the dye has “fixed” on the fabric for at least 24hrs, the tie dyes are ready to be rinsed out and unraveled!

Two confetti spiral ice dye t-shirts being rinsed of excess dye before being washed with Synthrapol in a tub sink

The tub sink with a spiral design shirt awaiting rinsing, to the right is the washer with rainbow tie dye towels folded on top.

Ready to rinse designs are brought back over to the tub sink and thoroughly rinsed before being double-washed with a combination of Synthrapol (a professional textile detergent that removes excess dye particles) and Gain detergent.

An up-close shot of the washer filled with freshly rinsed rainbow ice dyes, filling with water for a wash cycle to finish them up. At the bottom right are bottles of professional textile detergent.

An up-close shot of finished tie dye t-shirts folded and packaged in clear poly t-shirt bags with a business card inside of each

Lastly, tie dyes are machine dried before being ready to head upstairs to be photographed and/or packaged up to ship out!

TA-DA! That's the entire process every single tie dye design from Paradisiac Dyes goes through before it ends up here on the site!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...

Welcome to a little place I like to call: TIE DYE STUDIO LITE 2.0! So, earlier in this post when I said that my basement is where "all" of the tie dye is handmade...well, that's not quite the whole truth.
Reality is, I spend my time split between two households - so here at my boyfriend's house I have a second, super mini yet fully functional tie dye set-up!

Down to having a double of every single dye color in my collection! Some are stored amongst the empty Dharma dye jars I've accumulated over time, but once I ran out of those I started using these adorable, tiny containers from the dollar store; which are especially the perfect size for my lesser used colors!

All of my tie dyeing essentials are confined to this cute little corner that I've brightened up with tapestries on each wall and some knickknacks.

My favorite part of all is this glass desk, to this day I'm still over the moon about being able to use it for tie dyeing! I especially love utilizing it for photography, too!(example pictured below).

This is also where all of my non-cat safe plants reside. Currently that only consists of a yucca cane, aloe and sunset jade succulent.

CONCLUSION

Well, that’s going to conclude the Dungeon of Design segment of the tie dye bar & studio tour.

BUT WAIT, that’s still not all…

Bean the Boss (gray and white cat) sitting a top a drawer unit of blank stock, overseeing photos of all of my business card designs through the years in the tie dye studio’s stock & shipping room

If you’d like to also get an insider look at where your tie dye is photographed, stored, then packaged for shipping (and meet the feline faculty, too!) — Then be sure to check back because Part II., a tour of my real-life closet turned makeshift ‘office’…which I of course can’t help but now cheesily call the…wait for it…

CLOFFICE!
...IS COMING SOON!

If you’ve miraculously made it this far and think you might be interested in more behind the scenes content, be sure to bookmark/favorite this blog…I guess? (because I don’t do the whole email harassment newsletter thing!)

I’m excited to begin publishing more content here on a regular, consistent basis. So, with that being said: What type of content would you most love to see featured on my blog? Leave a comment below and let me know!

Also, connect with me on Instagram @PARADISIACDYES for even more #DESIGNSTIEDYEFOR on the daily and so much more - including Mindscape Mondays & Caturday Saturdays!

Also in Dungeon of Design

Two jars of Magenta Galactica dye powder along with sample swatches on 100% cotton fabric squares, with other pink dye colors in a binder sheet, all laid on top of two tie dye bandanas featuring new Dharma dye colors, Magenta Galactica and Bluebird

The NEW "Magenta Galactica" Dharma Fiber Reactive Dye Color

January 18, 2022

Revealing my first impressions, initial thoughts and overall opinion on the brand NEW Dharma Trading Co. Fiber Reactive Dye color thats available now: Magenta Galactica!
Exclusively in this blog post is: a detailed, in-depth review accompanied by an abundance of demonstrative images, true-to-color swatches of Magenta Galactica sampled on 100% cotton — featuring both tie-dyed and ice-dyed examples + much, much more!

Just to the right of the tie dye bar, are five t-shirt mannequins each wearing a new, symmetrical psychedelic mindscape ice dye design. The entire frame is full of Christmas decorations, gift wrapped boxes, and ambient red and green lights strung about

What's Been Dyeing in the Dungeon of Design? #2 | DYECEMBER Edition!

January 11, 2022

What's been dyeing in the dungeon of design lately? In this month's DYECEMBER (December) edition, take a tour of the tie dye studio's Christmas decor, get a special look at all of the tie dye given as gifts this year, recent custom commissions & much more!

What's Been Dyeing in the Dungeon of Design? #1 | This Unfinished, Fossilizing Blog Post - That's what!

December 30, 2021

Wondering what's been dyeing in the tie dye studio lately? Find out now in the first-ever installation of a new blog series that'll feature monthly/seasonal updates that provide the full scoop on: what's new to the site, what's been dyeing behind the scenes & occasion sneak peeks at what's coming soon!

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© 2023 Paradisiac Psychedelic Tie Dye Shop. All images, graphics, videos & other forms of digital media featured on paradisiacdyes.com and our related social media accounts, including: graphics, images, logos, as well as all written text and slogans, are copyrighted intellectual property of Paradisiac Psychedelic Handmade Goods. All photography, including product page images of individual tie-dye items and other marketing content imagery, always features our own, actual, hand-dyed designs only. All images are as true-to-color as is possible, in an attempt to depict the same shades and tones as they appear in real life. However, visual appearance of colors and tones may be slightly altered on different devices and screens.

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